The NFT industry is waiting for a mass adoption event. A project or utility so powerful, so valuable, that everyone will have to purchase an NFT and the future will become the now.
Many believe gaming is the industry to do just that; bring NFTs mainstream. While I agree there's plenty of exciting gaming NFT use cases, I disagree that they'll be widespread use any time soon, and here's why:
For gamers, gameplay trumps all else. The value of a gaming asset comes secondary to how exciting and intriguing the play of the game. And when money gets involved, users begin to see playing as a job. Gamers want to get away from work, not start another job.
The excitement surrounding gaming NFTs lies in the ability to sell a gaming asset, hopefully at a profit. But, too much asset appreciation, and the government will come asking for taxes. Again, gamers game to step away from the real world, not get taxed in real life. Not to mention, kids make up a huge amount of the gaming market, creating all sorts of issues for children and their parent's tax situations.
Platforms like Steam already let users buy and sell digital goods. For example, players can sell "Counter-Strike, Global Offensive" skins directly on the Steam website. Other games could quickly follow suit. In many cases, gaming NFTs is a solution looking for a problem.
NFTs & the blockchain will come to the masses. Owning & controlling one's data is the future of the web, but gaming will not be the industry to bring them mainstream. I'd be looking for event tickets, music or even loyalty programs to popularize NFTs before the gaming industry.